PS 3503 
.0665 
L6 
1908 
Copy 1 




PS 3503 
• A665 
L6 
1908 
Copy 1 





V* 



LOTAMETRA 



A DRAMATIC SKETCH 



Being the suggestion of a forgotten bit of the 
story of Ancient Khem. 



Put into words by 
H. M. BARSTOW 



LOS ANGELES, CAL. 
1908. 



Copyright, 1908, by H. M. Barstow. 
All rights reserved. 






■R 9 W* 










LOTAMiCTKA 



LOTAMETRA. 



Prelude and four scenes. 

Prelude intoned to minor music, by two priests. 

Time — B. C. More than a thousand years. 

Place — Egypt. 

Scenes I, II and III — Interior of temple of Ra, the Sun 
god, showing columns, altar, etc. Dim light. 

Scene IV — Same interior. Day. 

Persons : 

Radmus, the chief priest. Second priest. 

Lotametra — The beautiful goddess, daughter of Isis and 
Osiris. 

Freyr — The Scandinavian. 

Two female musicians. 



{ 



FOREWORD. 



Lotametra is known to the priesthood as the favorite of Osiris and Isis, and the inter- 
mediary between the gods and humanity. She alone of the Egyptian deities is available to 
the eyes of men. The legend runs that she, the daughter of Osiris and Isis with human 
attributes had, ages before, fallen in love with a scion of the royal family whom ere marriage 
in a fit of jealousy she slew with the flashing of her eyes, for which she was by her father 
condemned to lose her power of love until ages later the slain lover should be reincarnated. 
Meantime, although the Egyptian gods had human passions and affections, and their mode 
of action on the earth and through the air was material, they were invisible and she became 
a well-known and favorite character in the Egyptian pantheon, especially because of her 
intervention at trying times, when the wrath of the gods was by her averted from the 
people. 

Scene I opens during the heavy visitations on the land in behalf of the Israelites. 
Osiris has averted his face. The priest invokes Lotametra to intercede for the people and 
secure the help of the gods. When, however, she finally appears, it is for the purpose of 
telling them the power of Osiris has ended, as she deems through the strange god worshiped 
by the children of Israel, but that the time of her own penance draws to a close and that 
out of the khamsin then raging shall come him for whom she has long waited and that by 
them shall be founded a new dynasty and Egypt have a new birth, protected by the gods- of 
the great Northland from whence her lover is to come. The priest, despite the prevailing 
belief in the existence of the spirit after death, clings to the cardinal article of their faith 
of a future state of rewards and punishments, in which the good dwell with the gods while 
the wicked were consigned to torment and perpetual darkness and anguish. By her the 
stranger is succored from the peril of the sandstorm and preparations for the ceremony are 
made by the priests, though under protest. At the time of the ceremony she comes to 
understand for the first time that the heart of Freyr is in the keeping of another, and upon 
his producing the token kept by him as a pledge with his sweetheart, she, in a fit of jealous 
anger, again slays him in the self-same way, and then, repentant, is transformed into ^he 
lotus flower. 



PRELUDE. 

(Radmus and 2nd priest, unseen, intoning alternately.) 

Scene I. 



Radmus: 

Darkness, and Egypt lies beneath the pall 
Of blackness that descending, covers all. 
The gentle moon could not, on such a night 
Venture to shed on earth her gracious light. 
Faintly, the stars that scarcely pierce the veil 
Send straggling beams that seem about to fail. 
Earth shrinks as if from some mysterious dread, 
And living souls lie quiet as do the dead. 

Second Priest: 

Egypt hath suffered more than can be borne, 
And prostrate lies, of all her glories shorn. 
Queen of the world, of queenly crown bereft, 
Her faithful servitors alone are left; 
Alone they keep the memory of her state 
When Egypt ruled, the greatest of the great. 

Radmus : 

Strange things have chanced, strange acts been done 

[by them, 
Self-called "the Chosen of the Lord", in Khem. 
They prayed to One unseen, whose lightnings swept 
The earth e'en as thy people prostrate wept. 
Thy children hoped and in despair to thee 
Osiris, prayed that Egypt should be free 
From plagues and the blaspheming of thy name. 
But all in vain. No sign nor surcease came. 
Now prone and sore distressed thy people lay 
Fearing to hope, dreading another day. 

Second Priest: 

Silence profound so heavy broods, its weight 
The portent seems of some untoward fate. 
This is a fearful night. The dead might rise 
And gaze upon the quick with pitying eyes. 
Over the desert sweeps the hot simoom 
Its distant roar forewarning death and doom. 

[7] 



The darkness hides in mercy from our sight ^ 

Terrors that seen would even more affright ! ( 

What plague or mystery hath fate in store? 
For our humanity, what evils more? 

R adm us : 

The lights burn blue, the hot and fetid air 

A blast from some deep underworld, the share 

Of those into the outer darkness cast, 

From whom Osiris turned his face at last. 

Thy servants — faithful still— forgive our dread, 

This dire night endeth the Book of the Dead. 



[8] 



INVOCATION. 

Scene II. 

Radmus: 

Great Phrah, to thee in woe thy children come. 

Of Light the Source, of Life the Key and Span, 

Thou art our Refuge, Strength and Hope. No god 

Has place before thy Name. In sore distress, 

That thy averted face may turn, we pray, 

For thou whom we as did our sires revere 

Alone this Fear can back to darkness send ! 

Far in the east the nickering beams of light 

Seem struggling with the demons of the dark ! 

Harried and swept by fire, disease and death 

The earth no longer smiles or yields to man 

The fruitage of its womb, the harvests full 

That it was wont to bear of oil and corn. 

The breast that once with milk and honey rich 

In fullness teemed, now shrunken is and dead, 

Blackened and bruised from cruel ravishment. 

The Nile that brought each year its riches down 

Now hides in Ethiopa's wilds, sending 

The merest pittance of its gracious flood ! 

Evil if done has not been done to thee ; 

If Israel's children felt the stinging rod 

It was because thy Name was on their lip ; 

Their blasphemy of thee with scoff and jeer 

By us was all too lightly met with blows. 

On us they prayed the wrath of their new Lord, 

Nor hast thou stayed the ills Jehovah wrought ! 

For us let thy loved Daughter intercede, 

Let her compassion plead our need to thee. 

Isis ! Mother ! to us thy Loved One send ! 

Daughter divine, soften this awful wrath! 

If our entreaties feeble seem and weak 

It is that faintly speaks the o'er full heart. 

Full oft thou hast our intercessor been 

And thou to us hast said "Call and I come". 

Hide not thy face from us about to die, 

Fountain of Grace and Love, heed thou our cry! 

[9] 



(LOTAMETRA ap- LoTAMETRA : 

pears., speaking.) Radmus, the ills and fears of thy loved Khem ( 

Are known, and heard are all thy earnest prayers. 
For thee and thine in vain I sought the gods. 
Their faces turned from me but e'er in grief, 
For that it was their will to do for thee. 
Thus far alone, for now their power is gone. 
No longer does Osiris Egypt rule, 
And Isis, Mother Isis, who held thee dear 
Sits in her halls with bowed head in tears. 
The children fair, enslaved by those of Khem, 
Who prayed to some Jehovah god unknown. 
Have wrought this awful, wondrous thing. The Sun 
For Khem has sunk in dreadful night. But dawn 
Draws near, and I the intercessor long 
Shall reign, but not alone. 

Radmus : 

Truly, I deem strange fate that I should see 

The end of all that was, the smiling dawn 

Of that which is to be. Favored am I 

That from the infinite to me alone 

The message comes. Thou knowest that long years 

And service wholly leal renders most fit 

That I depart in peace, but if thy will 

Further require, that let thy servant do. 

And if it pleaseth thee, I would receive 

The word that lies behind what thou dost say. 

That not alone shall be thy reign. 

LOTAMETRA I 

Far in the north 
Whose deserts are of snow and ice, whose winds 
Are chill, where rule strange gods unknown to thee, 
Has reigned a King whose son is my Beloved. 
Tn ages gone, before thy sires were here 
T was to that King's son betrothed, and him 
Tn jealousy I slew by fire divine, 
Nor all my tears nor prayers the wrong could right. 
For punishment, Osiris father mine 
Bade me this form inviolate maintain 
Until my love should come on earth again. 

[10] 



R adm us: 

And who, Osiris gone, shall say what time 

A worldly lover, long since dead, shall rise, 

Greet thee as lovers do ; look in thine eyes ; 

Be all in all ; shield thee from harm ; awake 

The soul that in this beauteous form lies cold ? 

It cannot be. When Night the soul doth take 

This life is past, nor being more doth hold. 

Amenti's gates are closed against return. 

Long has his heart been weighed, and shall thine burn ? 

As his life was, he hath been justified, 

Nor longer knoweth hate nor love nor pride. 

The Book of the Dead is written for aye 

Nor time, nor change, nor thou, canst make it lie ! 

LOTAMETRA : 

O, priest, so wise, how ignorant thou art! 

The Libyan hills so bare and brown, that bound 

Thy furthest gaze are less inscrutable 

Than are the powers that had thy life in hand 

Ages agone, when in the womb of things 

Thou wast prefigured as today thou art. 

Canst thou the stars in heaven number? Canst thou 

The space between Arcturus and Orion 

Span? Yet all of this and more is done 

By powers thou knowest not. Thou fool, to think 

That twice a thousand years hath made thee wise j 

Radmus, thou seest with a dead man's eyes! 

The storm that now the desert doth oppress 

Shall count its dead in scores, but from the stress 

The fair-haired son who doth the fury ride, 

Shall come within thy halls to claim his bride. 

Radmus: 

I cannot at thy word renounce the faith 
That twenty centuries have made our life — 
111 upon ill fast follows troubles dire, 
I fear to bring on Khem an added ire. 

LOTAMETRA : 

Thou doubtest me? Then I must needs command. 
For thou as long before, my servant art, 
And such shalt thou remain when this dead day 
Shall long forgotten be. In Egypt's state 

[11] 



(Lifts hand for 
silence as the dis- 
tant noise of the 
storm is heard.) 



(Exit R.) 
(In appeal.) 



(Enter R. and 
2nd priest.) 

(Pointing to des- 
ert.) 

(All exit.) 



That is to be, Radmus shall be the first, 

And when to the new gods our people pray 

And praise the best, remembering the worst, 

Radmus shall be the greatest of the great — 

And then again upon the eastern hills 

The skirmishers of dawn shall kiss the earth, 

And stealing swiftly down the rocky heights 

Shall fill the plain below with light and joy, 

And thus lay siege with warmth and tenderness 

To our dear mother's breast ravished and cold 

From drouth, disease and plague. She shall respond 

To Phrah's caressing charms and shall again 

As ne'er before, her Valley of the Nile 

Bedeck with carpets green and harvests full. 

And he the noisome dews of night shall drink 

To pour in grateful showers upon the plain. 

No more the gentle moon shall hide her beams 

That man the stalking Terror may not see 

And Khem shall be once more the Queen of earth. 

Out of her travail peace, from sadness mirth — 

Hark to the distant storm! To me 'tis joy. 

Closer it bears to me the one of all. 

Nearer it draws and soon shall pass this pall. 

Summon thy friend : Tell him 'tis written fate 

That now when all seems lost, you save the State. 

I bid you both to follow where I lead 

And centuries to come shall bless your deed. 

Now, Mother Isis, be with me. This day 

Was marked in centuries gone. Show me the way 

By which when Egypt's future king is here 

My love long pent, shall rule and know no fear. 



Lotametra: 

To the King! 



(Curtain. ) 



[12] 



SCKNE III. 

{Enter L., followed by two priests bearing between them Freyr unconscious, whom 
they place on a seat. Radmus bends over him in close examination for a few seconds. 
L stands with hands clasped, in tense expectancy.) 

Radmus : 
(Rising.) The will omnipotent, be done! The gods 

Looked down on one so young and fair and strong 
And to him called. Great Queen, thy love is dead ! 

LOTAMETRA I 

(In sudden an- Thou liest ! No, not dead ! My king but swoons. 

ger '' The gods do not pronounce decrees of fate 

To fail. What there is written cannot lie. 

Egypt may end — my lover shall not die! 
(Excitedly.) Ha, blind! Seest thou not his eyelids move? 

(F. stirs.) He breaths! He stirs! The gods do this to prove 

Their power, thy littleness ! Awake, my love ! 

Open to me the windows of thy soul 

That I may pay to thee a lover's toll ! 

Freyr : 

(Opening his eyes Where am I? What has chanced? What evil hap-- 

and with difficulty 
rising. ) LoTAM ETRA : 

(The two priests No evil, dear, for all that is, is good. 

exit.) Thou art at home and safe — 

Freyr : 
(Wonderingly.) At home? And safe? And thou so beautiful 

Callest me "dear"! Surely, I do but dream! 
I thought the whirling sand had wrought my death ! 
Never did so beset me terrors wild. 
In vain I struggled not to yield my breath, 
My soul was driven in — I seemed a child ! 
And then (starting wildly) 
My caravan — my men — my love ! 

Lota m etra : 
(Reassuringly.) Thy love is here ! Thy caravan is lost, 

Thou'rt saved by me, nor may we count the cost ! 
For though thy men have journeyed into sleep, 
Long and revered this day shall Egypt keep ! 

FpF YR * 

(Dazed, pressing jj. hideous dream. But yesterday! 

his head in his \ , 

hands.) And now— 

[13] 



LOTAMETRA : 

And now, O King, thou comest to thine own. ( 

Where I am, Heart of mine, thy Kingdom is ; 

My House is thine. Thy gods are mine. One land 

Is ours — 

Freyr : 
(Shaking his I do not understand — 

head in doubt.) 

Lot\metra: 

Nor is it given thee to understand, 
But like a child, to see, possess and love; 
It is enough that Fate to thee is kind, 
Forever to its mystery be blind ! 

Freyr : 

'Tis true we ask it not of common things, 

The sun that warms, the breeze that blows, the flowers 

That bless us with their bloom, or rain that falls ; 

But I was in the very grip of death, 

In a strange land and thou hast rescued me ! 

LOTAMETRA '. 

The gods ere thou wert born, ordained it all! d' 

Freyr : 
(ci u- 7 i- I do not understand. Far in the north 

head in doubt.) My father reigns a King, my mother, Queen. 

Tis not this land. No treacherous desert there. 
But fertile valleys, snow-capped hills. The Sea 
That fronts the giant Cape is ruled by us — 
Forest and streams — and there are mountains high, 
The peaks of which are close against the sky 
Where dwell our gods; Odin, giver of life, 
Thor, whose chariot wheels can rouse the dead, 
And who thy pyramids could in one fell blow 
Resolve into this deadly sand. And there 
They wait for me — 

LOTAMETRA \ 

Far long I awaited thee, my King! 
Freyr: 

Thou knowest me not. I know not thee. How then 
Couldst thou await? And too, thou sayest "King". 

[14] £ 



LoTAMETRA : 

Thou wert my lover in the long ago, 
And thee in anger I did slay for that 
The pangs of jealousy tore me in twain ! 
And for this horrid crime, Osiris great 
Bade me through all the centuries to wait 
Until thou shouldst reincarnated be! 
And thus, in Egypt, I awaited thee. 

Freyr : 

And now — 

LOTAMETRA I 

And now the sacred Book of Fate is closed, 
For thou, a King, at my right hand shall sit, 
And I, the Queen — fulfilling destiny. 
The pyramids immutable shall bear 
To ages far the story of our reign, 
And races now unknown shall stand in awe 
Before their majesty, and of the Sphinx 
Omniscient but inscrutable shall seek 
Disclosure of the tale of wondrous love ; 
And Reign and Love the wonders of the world 
Shall be until the Sphinx shall speak ! 

Freyr : 

Lady, most beautiful thou art. I fain, 
As must the world, my tribute pay to thee. 
My life is due to thee. It gives me pain 
To doubt — 

Lotametra: 

There is in this wide world no room for doubt. 
Tis writ that Khem should have a newer birth 
And once again become the first of earth. 
This is the time, thou art the man. You flaunt 
The gods whene'er you question their decree. 
Sole arbiters, they fashioned you for me! 

Freyr : 

O, Queen, my heart before you yields. So rare 

Your beauty is, so much beyond compare. — 

Tis new and wondrous strange — and yet — and yet- 

[15] 



LOTAMETRA : 

(With her arm* And yet thy little faith cannot thy mind ^ 

^im) 1 ^ t0Ward Bend t0 thy hi g hest g° od - °> little faith > 

That makes thy finite knowledge doubly blind! 

Thou findest everything when thee I find! 

Radmus: 

I find no tongue nor wit to answer thee, 
For in my heart I know thou art sincere, 
And I would be with thee. Tis not for me 
To feign what I am not. Too much I fear 
The gods all wise — too much I honor thee. 

Lotametra: 

Thy word adds naught to what thy clear blue eyes 
At once declared when the tired lids could ope ; 
And though I knew so well thou wouldst not die, 
My heart was torn betwixt its fear and hope ! 
Now, all is well and those who wait for thee 
Need not fill up the measure of thy thought. 
Little they knew the good in store for thee, 
And little didst thou know, when to the north 
The land on which they "Stood to bid farewell 
Became the skyline of thy farthest gaze ! 
For thee they knew that when thy father slept 
With his, thou wouldst their ruler be, but now 
New worlds, travel afar, adventures wild, 
Knowledge of men and unknown lands ; what lay 
Beyond the waste ; all this thou shouldst attain 
That thou couldst better rule thy own domain. 

Freyr : 
{Amazed.) Of a certainty, thou hast told it all 

As if the written page before thee lay. 
And if thou seest beyond the sea's blue wall, 
I know thou seest the future as today ! 

Lotametra: 

'Tis given me to know far more than thou, 
And yet I waited thee, before thee bow, 
And on thy pleasure wait ; for so 'tis writ, 
Nor you nor I can change one word of it. 

[16] 



(Kisses him.) 



(He kisses her.) 



Freyr : 

And so, great Queen, thou readest the very soul! 

Then thou must know that though I reverence thee, 

Owe thee my life and due obeisance pay 

To grace and beauty such as I ne'er knew, 

I cannot say I love but thee. 'Tis true 

My heart that fails me now, bids me return, 

Nor does it fired by thee, with rapture burn ! 

To me it cries that kind should wed with kind — 

That ills fast follow where'er love is blind. 

LOTAMETRA : 

My sweet impatience I can scarce restrain, 
To teach thee as a child, and once again 
Tell thee that love's sweet toll doth thee await, 
And ills shall be unknown. 'Tis writ by Fate. 

Freyr : 

And I, so ill-deserving of such bliss 

Shall know the measure of thy love, thy kiss! 

LOTAMETRA : 

Aye, and all that to lovers doth belong — 
Till life to us shall seem one long sv/eet song! 

Freyr : 

And if I love thee not in truth, what then? 

LOTAMETRA ! 

Day follows night in endless round. The tides 
Return. The seasons come and go. The stars 
Their courses keep, because for them 'tis writ: 
Likewise for me your heart with love shall burn 
And thou to me as I to thee shall turn. 
Each to the other shall be all in all, 
And as 'tis written, we shall stand or fall. 
In token. Sweet, I seal it with a kiss, 
And pledge my life that you shall share my bliss ; 
And too, Dear Heart, thou shalt thy people see, 
And I, a Queen, to them will go with thee. 
Greater shall be the truth than e'er they dreamed, 
Khem shall be added to the land they know — 
Thy sway from Nile unto eternal snow — 
I prithee, Sweet, when thus our bliss is writ, 
Kiss me, in proof. Let us accomplish it! 

[17] 



Impatient me, to have a lover's right, 

(Claps her hands. Tt sha11 be g in > ere da y dispels the night! 

Enter Radmus.) Radmus, the night of death and woe is done, 

The page is turned. Before tomorrow's sun 
My Love, my Lord, the King of Khem shall be- 
Thine the high right to wed him unto me. 
Attend ! The perfumed bath, the apparel fine 
And all that doth befit this King of mine ! 

(Curtain.) 



( 



[18] 



Scene IV. 



(Interior with hangings. Enter two female musicians, with small instruments. They 
are seated and sing to their own accompaniments. Last line repeated.) 



Hail to the newer birth Happy and long her reign, 

Of Egypt, first of earth, And 'gainst its power in vain 

Lotametra, Queen! Evil shall come. 

Waiting and tears are past, She shall be loved by them — 

Ills in oblivion cast — Her people dear in Khem — 

Joyous the scene! Envy be dumb. 

And there shall rule with her 
Enthroned, the Kingly Freyr, 

Consort — lover. 
Earth's nations all shall praise, 
And pray them length of days — 
Joy shall hover. 



(As last line is sung, Radmus and Lotametra enter. From opposite side 2nd priest 
and Freyr, the latter robed. The two priests take position, Lotametra and Freyr opposite 
them, Freyr appearing ill at ease.) 

Lotametra : 
(To Freyr, ten- My love, small need the heart to voice its plaint 

d er h-) With thee. The troubled eye, the lack of smile, 

The slowness of thy walk, e'en now give tongue 
To that which dwells within. And this, O, fie! 
Despite thine own confessed belief that I 
Had read our future as the printed page, 
And thus could make my own, the future age ! 
I know full well that in thy heart of hearts 
The thought wells up that thou shouldst homeward 

[turn — 
For else the fire of constancy should burn — 
Thou knowest not, faint heart, the Flower of Khem, 
Thou knowest not that I its mother am! 
This boon by me the gods sent down to man. 
Most precious anodyne, solvent of ill, 
It hath a magic past belief. The earth 
Doth not produce the like. The river dark 

[19] 



That bounds the hither shore of the Unknown 

And in the wave of which departing souls 

Lose all regret, all longing to return, 

And on whose banks it had its home, alone 

Doth have the magic charm — Nepenthe, come ! 

For in thy arms invisible, our stress 

And sorrow shall be lost in sweet forgetfulness ! 

(Claps her hands. Singing girls take lotus flowers in hand and give to F., who eats 
slowly and drowsily closes his eyes. Girls sing to their accompaniment.) 

In that fair land of Afternoon, 

Beyond the sunset sea, 
Joyous the dreams and rare life seems 

To him that loveth me. 
Past vine-clad hills to purple peaks 

My lovers wend their way, 
Or spend their hours in shady bowers, 

So speeds the happy day. 
'Tis there the port of Heart's desire 

Rests in the evening glow, 
Crimson and gold, our roof-sky old 

Glimpses the heaven we know. 
Morning and noon and dewy eve 

Are like the afternoon, 
Each month of dreams a brief day seems. 

Each day is one of June. 
I live and die. Again I live, 

And rarest blessings shower, 
Each loving heart holds me apart 

As its God-given dower. 
As if the Lethe washed our shores, 

Gone all our cares and stress, 
Nepenthe reigns and trouble wanes 

In sweet forgetfulness. 

Lofamltra £**'"' My King, the flower divine hath wrought its charm. 

Freyr.) No more thou knowest longing, pain or harm. 

(Pointing to The servant of the gods awaiteth thee — 

Radmus.) And more than thou hast ever known, with me. 

This dav thou seest life with different eves 
(Extending her An( j e > en Qn earth sha |j have th p aradise | 

arms toward him.) \ ^ *,u j j • i ai j 

And as the rosy dawn drinks up the dew 

[20] 



And fills and warms and brings to life the vale, 
Each morn thou shalt awake to love anew 
That with the sun shall wax to noon-tide's glow ; 
And if its passion fades with evening's wane, 
When in the morn thine eyes find me again 
Thou shalt awake such love again to know ! 

Freyr : 
(F. slowly rises. It seems that I for thee have waited years, 

Takes her hand in The while my youth sped by with flying feet. 

hts -) O, cruel waste of precious time and tears 

To miss the love that mine, makes life complete! 
(Embraces her, It seems in thee I find the utmost scope 

then holding at Of dreams, fruition sweet of hope. 

arm's length.) Thou'rt all in all. My passion's fire 

Is fed and quenched by one — the World's Desire ! 
(Embracing her There is so little time that we can love ! 

closely, then hold- Too soon our lives must fade as melts the breath 

ing her out.) Q n f ros ty air. Too soon the blossoms fall, 

Then as a friend we meet and welcome Death! 
And I shall miss the dalliance of your smile, 
The sweet caress ; the love-lit eyes that now 
Are mine — 
(Seizes her.) Come fate, come agre, come death! My Love is here, 

(Releases her.) Come all ! With Her I stand, and know no fear ! 

LOTAMETRA : 

Radmus, the royal wish is thy command ! 

R adm us : 
(Addressing F.) Stranger, on thee have fallen honors great. 

Who wins at once a kingdom and a bride 
Becomes the first, the chiefest of the state, 
And hath no need of other cause for pride. 

O, King! 
Thou hast the best that earth can give 
For more than earth has entered into it ! 
To her is given, and so by her to thee 
The power to bend the world to thy desire. 
Princes of earth thy word shall make or mar. 
Greater than kings, more royal than royalty 
All things shall now be added unto thee. 
She stoops to lift thee up to that high seat 
Of equal rule. Because of this thou shalt 

[21] 



Before her gracious presence, here declare 
What cause or bar if any such there be, 
Forbids her self-surrender unto thee. 
Art thou in all things clean and meet to wed? 
Lives there the woman who to thee can say 
Thou hast done harm or that to her thy word 
Has followed the surrender of her heart? 
On kingly honor thou must speak, for she 
Sways to thy lightest wish — knows only thee ! 

Freyr : 

O, priest revered, I am at one with thee 
In all thou dost bespeak for her, our Queen : 
My littleness, my great unworth, I feel, 
And know she stoops to lift me up until 
I may in all things equal be with her. 
No power nor wit have I to say how great 
The gulf she spans when thus she reaches down ! 
All this to her I said, but her great love 
Saw only good, nor would she hear of aught 
Though I was fain to show my inmost thought. 
O, priest, I am of royal blood the son, 
And all my life has been an open book: 
Its ways and acts as open to the sight 
As the tall pines that on my mountains grow. 
With branches open-spread to sun and light ; 
Or as the sheeted snow that garbs our fields 
And shows not anywhere a mark or stain 
Was my life lived. Nor in our wide domain 
Lives any woman, any maid, who aught can say 
Of me, or that I harmed or gave her pain. 

R adm us: 

Thus far 'tis well, and I can fain believe 
Thou never wouldst a trusting heart deceive. 
Speak to the end, O King, that she may know 
Thy heart, like thy intent, is as thy snow : 
That in the keeping of our Queen you place 
A love untouched by aught except her grace. 

Fkeyr : 

But for the radiance o'erpowering all 
Beneath whose gracious spell I could but fall, 
But for the fact that locked within my breast — 

[22] 



(Who has start- 
ed forward, her 
hands clasped.) 



(Pressing her 
hands to her 

breast.) 



( With suppressed 
feeling.) 



The key not mine — is that, of all the best — 

I would, but could not as I would, and failed — 

LOTAMETRA : 

"Locked in thy breast! The key not thine"! What 

[word — 

Freyr : 

O, gracious Queen! O, Fount most sweet, the word 
That I was fain to speak, wouldst thou have heard! 

LOTAMETRA l 

I stayed thee not — 

Freyr : 

Nay, nay, the fault was mine — 

Lotametra : 

Thou ownest to a fault? 

Freyr : 

I would not say a fault to thee, nor sin, 
And yet — I scarce can end, ere I begin — 

Lotametra : 

Begin to end, the truth untold? 

Freyr : 

I cannot follow thee — 

Lotametra: 

I hoped to follow thee where thou shouldst lead. 
I feel — I fear — the wound seems deep indeed! 

Freyr : 

O, Queen! Not for my life so poor, would I — 

Lotametra : 

Speak out ! Show me thy heart, or I shall die ! 

Freyr : 

With one — no kin — who played with me — child-like, 

We wandered through the summer fields, and skimmed 

The winter's ice; or sagas of the north 

Together read, or watched the Midnight Sun, 

Until at man's estate, she saw in me 

The vikings old of whom we read, and thus 

She made — unworthy me — a place apart — 

[23] 



Lotametra: 

(Impatiently.) What childishness! The flame of boyhood days 

Dies out and ne'er with manhood stays ! 
Tell me the truth — I know it well, but tell. 
My woman's heart cries out to hear the truth, 
E'en though it knows it all, better than thou. 
Have not the gods who rule o'er all told me? 
Have I not known for all these centuries 
What thou hast learned in one brief thirty years ! 

(Entreating.) And yet my very soul waits on thy voice 

To tell the tale anew. Tell me the truth ! 
Tell me that ere thy flaxen, flowing beard 
Shadowed thy cheek, others to her appeared 
With all the charms ascribed to thee, and more, 
And she forgot the love that once she bore — 

Freyr : 

O, Queen, O, savior of my life ! To whom 

Alike are present, future and the past, 

In all I can, I dare but tell the truth 

To thee — I fear — I know how thou hast borne, 

The while in slow procession mankind passed, 

And yet — I shrink — I fear — 

Lotametra: 
(With mingled Thou wilt not dare the heavenly fiat change, 

pleading and show Nor give the lie to my heart's cherished hope? 

of anger.) t hang upon thy word, to me 'tis all. 

For on thy lips, Egypt will stand or fall ! 

Freyr : 

(Distressed.) O, love, that so far passes human ken! 

Thou toldst me I would learn to love but thee. 

And to that end I bend my very soul, 

To win, Heart of the World, the envied goal ! 

(Absently.) And so, meseems, we need not heed that one 

In days gone by gave me a place apart, 
Or in my keeping placed her loyal heart. 
Or that a love so pure was so soon done. 

(L. clasping her What matters that in childhood's thoughtless days 

hands, anxiously She had a mind and heart for me alone, 

^ra^ne"! look ™ lUl ° Y t * Mlt '" ^^ Hfe the ri P ened love 

Tn fonder, more abiding way was shown? 

[24] 



> 



(As if 

the reply.) 



fearing 



( Tensely. ) 



(As if with eyes 
fastened on a dis- 
tant scene.) 



(Pleadingly.) 

( Taking charm 
from tunic.) 

(Pressing it to 
his lips.) 



LOTAMETRA : 

Say not that she now holds thy plighted word! 

Freyr : 

Sweetheart — to be — the flowers that beauty plucks 

Are soon replaced by others finer far. 

The clouds that hide the sun pass while we wait, 

The hope foregone looks for a better fate. 

And hearts that love and lose forget the scar — 

LOTAMETRA : 

Say not that she now holds thy plighted word! 

Freyr : 

Thou shalt not be deceived, e'en if I could, 

And now before my mind rises again 

That far — to thee unknown — forbidding shore. 

The ship impatient is to be at sea, 

My father holds my hand fearing the worst. 

My mother's arms around my neck are fast, 

And friends about are full with their farewells. 

One sits alone — dear maid — the best of all ! 

In grief her head is bowed. No word she speaks ! 

Feeling too deep for words chokes up the heart. 

To me its best is given. Of me a part 

As if the courses of our lives had run 

For years as one, she feels the parting pain, 

Dreading the thought "and will he come again?" 

And I, O, Queen, to her I ^ave my all. 

I took her in my arms, smothered her grief, 

I promised quick return ; that true to her 

As the bright stars to their appointed paths 

I would remain and come untouched aeain. 

I dried her tears. She smiled in happiness. 

She waits, her gaze sweeping the boundless sea, 

To catch upon its blue the first far glint 

Of snowy sails that bear her lover home. 

She waits for me! 

O, Queen, I long for her! 

I had not thought to see this scene again ! 

This token slept upon her breast. To me 
She gave it on that day. I gave her mine. 
My head shall lie where it has lain. My heart 
Its homing make, and be content alone 
When it can feel the flutter of her own ! 

[25] 



(Appealing with 
clasped hands to 
the gods.) 



(Pausing, then 
in despair.) 



(Arousing to 

anger.) 



(With irony.) 



(Vehemently.) 



(Bitterly.) 



LOTAMETRA : 

Father mine ! O, Mother dear ! Thy child 
With thee sees darkest night blot out the dawn ! 
Did I for so long live in faith so blind 

To have the darkness swallow up the day ? 
To see my Love only to see him pass, 
And thus be made the sport of Israel's God? 
Even the gods have failed! My day is done. 
Nor death nor darkness terrors have for me. 
Gone all my hopes of joy. Fades on my sight 
The heavenly bliss ! Come endless Night ! 

To me 
The years of men were davs, the centuries years — 

1 saw them live and love and die and pass — 
O, happy they, in having all of life 

In such brief days of my long servitude. 

I lived a thousand lives — not one was mine. 

I died a thousand deaths — for thee and thine ! 

Loveless while others loved, unhappy me, 

My love was not — was all I had — was thee ! 

And thou who thus hast brought my hooes to wreck ! 

Who flings defiance at the gods and me! 

Who says they He ! Who kills my dearest hope 

Because, forsooth, thy mind a picture shows, 

That more 'tis looked upon, the more it grows ! 

And thou a picture seest of that far shore? 

And seest thy weeping friends once more ? 

Look on it long and well ! Ha ! Does it fade ? 

And canst thou mid the friends discern the maid? 

Where now is she who wept apart, alone? 

And were she dead, she needs must hear my moan ! 

Each morn with hope renewed her aching eyes 

On emptiness shall feed until hope dies ! 

Each night her heart shall sink as sinks the sun. 

Each day anew, her life shall be undone ! 

Blankness of sea and sky her lot shall be, 

Blank as the void that now she makes for me ! 

O, thou, who bringest me to tears and ill ! 

Who to the brim, my cup of woe doth fill ! 

In vain thy love shall wait and long for thee. 

The sea's unanswering surface scan in vain ? 

She wait and long! How lonrr? Mayhap a year 

Of her brief life, and then shall solace find 

In some of thy dear friends who comfort her, 

[26] 



(Pointing her 
finger in scorn.) 



(F. staggers and 
falls.) 



And who her grievous hurts will salve and bind! 

And I awaited thee! I at whose feet 

Princes and Kings had grovelled at my word ! 

Cold as the ice of thy far native land, 

Chill as the winds that sweep its wintry wastes, 

My love is spurned, my heart is wrenched in twain ! 

Thou fool ! There is on earth no place for thee, 

Thy very life is an offense to me ! 

Thou stone ! Thou clod ! My hate of thee 

Wells up until I drown in bitterness! 



(Throwing her- 
self to her knees 
over him, with 
hands clasped in 
fear and dread.) 



(With added ap- 
peal.) 



(Looking at him 
closely and rising 
with clasped hands 
raised in despair; 
looking upward in 
entreaty.) 



(Addressing F.) 



Lotametra: 

O, no, not this ! O let me not again 
The burden bear of ending this dear life! 
Already but in name thou art enthroned! 
I promise thee that with the morrow's sun 
Thine ears shall weary grow, thy senses pall 
With the acclaim that thousands make for thee! 
Awake, my love ! Open thine eyes ! I wait, 
I wait thee still ! And did I say I hate ? 
Nay 'twas not I. W T hy, I have made of thee 
A god, not one to hear a hasty word ! 
Come back! The ripened prize of all the world 
Waits on thy lightest wish ! I love but thee ! 
Come back, and in my all-enfolding arms 
No ill shall come, no hurt and no alarms ! 

My prayers unheeded fall and tears and love 

Or swift reproach are all alike to thee. 

Now have I done to death my very own, 

And wrought my desolation and despair! 

O, wretched, wretched life, so worse than death 

To thus entrap and bring to ruin my hope ! 

I'll have no more of thee. Come nothingness ! 

Welcome Oblivion in whose dark sink 

Nor love nor hate, nor disappointed hope 

Have place, nor ill is feared, nor good is known ! 

Rather oblivion with thee, than earth 
And thou not here. What blessed good was mine 
Wnen T could wait for thee, save thee from storm, 
Dream of the joy to come with thee, teach thee 



[27] 



(With forced 

calmness.) 



( Turning to 

him.) 



To love as thou shouldst grow in power and grace ! 
And now by one fell stroke of cruel fate 
The word thou takest hence is one of hate ! 

That one so blest and strong should be so frail 
And in the test of love supreme should fail ! 
That mine own hand forever bars my way — 
The gates of that dear haven so long denied 
Are closed for aye. For me they opened wide, 
Yet I nor Egypt cometh into day! 
This beauteous form vilest of earth, the flower 
Shall be, emblem of Egypt's magic power! 
Mankind shall see no more the form it knows 
But in its stead the fairest flower that blows ! 

Dear Heart, thou shalt not cross the dark alone ! 
Dear Heart, I love thee so ! I will the vigil keep 
With thee that souls must keep, and when we live 
I will forget and, Dear, thou wilt forgive ! 

( Transformation— CURTAIN. ) 



[28] 



AFR 9 1909 



* 



i 



